Techmeme
August 23, 2025, 6:50 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Some lawyers and bankers say the Intel deal may face legal challenges as the CHIPS Act may not allow the US government to convert grants into equity  —  The deal is among the largest government interventions in a U.S. company since the rescue of the auto industry after the 2008 financial crisis.
Reuters:
Some experts say Trump's extraordinary intervention is unlikely to save Intel, which faces challenges with poor yields and competition from TSMC and Nvidia  —  U.S. President Donald Trump is injecting nearly $9 billion into Intel(INTC.O) in exchange for a 9.9% equity stake.
Wall Street Journal:
More: Wired, Washington Post, Ars Technica, Associated Press, The Verge, Reuters, CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg, NBC News, Mediaite, Yahoo Finance, Notebookcheck, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Guam Daily Post, SabaNet, The Last Refuge, UPI, XDA Developers, The Register, MarketWatch, DigiTimes, KMUW, Shacknews, Politico, Engadget, Raw Story, Barron's Online, CBS News, PCMag, Newser, WBHM 90.3, 9to5Mac, Oregonian, Just The News, ZeroHedge News, TechCrunch, Benzinga, Windows Central, and Financial Times
Threads: @carnage4life and @martinsfp
The Guardian:
Sources: in a meeting with UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, Sam Altman proposed giving ChatGPT Plus to everyone in the UK, a deal that would have cost £2B  —  Exclusive: Deal that could have cost £2bn was floated at meeting between technology secretary Peter Kyle and Sam Altman
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
OpenAI warns investors against “unauthorized opportunities” to gain exposure to its equity, including through special purpose vehicles  —  In a new blog post, OpenAI warns against “unauthorized opportunities to gain exposure to OpenAI through a variety of means,” including special purpose vehicles, known as SPVs.
More: OpenAI
Business Insider:
A surge in AI company valuations is driving the popularity of special purpose vehicles, but some involve high fees, opaque structures, and layers of middlemen  —  - SPVs have been surging in popularity as retail investors scramble for stock in hot AI companies.
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
How AI is increasingly being used to replace human content moderators, who say that the tech is not yet capable of reliably identifying harmful content  —  Kevin decided on a career in content moderation after his YouTube recommendations took a bewildering swerve.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky blocks access to its service in Mississippi, saying it doesn't have the resources to comply with the state's broad new law requiring age verification  —  Social networking startup Bluesky has made the decision to block access to its service in the state of Mississippi, rather than comply with a new age assurance law.
Alex Heath / The Verge:
More: TechCrunch.  Bluesky: @prietschka.  Mastodon: @jukkan@mstdn.social.  Threads: @alexheath.  X: @rohitprasadai.  LinkedIn: Junjie Tang
Mike Allen / Axios:
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, named by Trump as the first US chief design officer, says he wants to update federal websites to an “Apple Store-like experience”  —  Joe Gebbia — a co-founder of Airbnb who was named by President Trump this week to be the first U.S. chief design officer …
Andy Mukherjee / Bloomberg:
India's move to ban online real-money games over addiction and money laundering concerns appears valid, but it may push users toward offshore crypto casinos  —  Cricket wagers will move offshore, with crypto becoming the preferred currency.  —  India has stunned its online gaming industry …
The Hindu:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Nvidia has shown new versions of its Blackwell-based AI chips for Chinese customers to US officials, including one with ~80% of the peak performance  —  Chip designer hopes Trump will approve new design for sale in China, after Beijing tells its companies not to buy older product
Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal:
FanDuel partners with CME Group to offer event-based contracts, letting users wager “yes” or “no” on financial events and benchmarks, starting later this year  —  The sports-betting platform's deal with CME Group might ultimately lead it to making markets for sports-related events

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
The new primitives of agentic software delivery  —  This goes beyond code generation.  We're connecting people, AI, and feedback across the software development lifecycle.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Pro Tips: 5 ways to keep your OKR rollout on track past the three-month mark  —  Three months into an OKR rollout is when the cracks appear.  Manual tracking stalls, CRM data and strategic goals drift apart, and missed targets catch leaders by surprise.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Sources:
Tobi Lütke on the AI agent revolution and future of Shopify
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Big Technology Podcast:
This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Machine Gods:
Inside Anthropic's IPO + How AI Agents Spy on Your Messages
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
You Can't Escape AI. Here's How to Live With It.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
European Defense Sovereignty Starts in the Factory: Stark's Uwe Horstmann and Johannes Schaback
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Cheeky Pint:
The airline CEO putting Starlink on every plane
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:50 PM ET, August 23, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Newley Purnell / Bloomberg: